Amanda Roth Block

The figural work of Block, her most accessible, falls between the traditional and the avant-garde, between simple and subtle, between passion and control. Although she became well known for her large abstract landscapes in acrylic and her decorative, colorful lithographs from the middle and late 1970s; ultimately, it is through the figural work that one may truly understand this complex artist. A lover of beauty, it is the female form that most stimulated Block's sensibilities. Her women are strength itself, often veering toward fierce, frank and open, but always sensual.

Child-rearing and divorce occupied her until she was able to return to art school during the middle and late fifties. Her real work began in 1960 upon graduation from John Herron Art School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she lived with her second husband, Maurice Block Jr., a successful department store executive, who eventually became the President of the William H Block department stores.

From 1960 until 1984 she produced hundreds of prints, paintings, drawings, and mixed media images, at which point she retired from active production. Many, many shows, numerous purchases by museums and private collectors, and acceptance at the highest levels validated her career. Additionally during this time, she taught drawing and lithography at John Herron, where she was thought to be a gifted and talented instructor.

Block always knew she was an artist, but life kept getting in her way. Born into a prominent and illustrious Jewish family, Block attended Smith College, but dropped out to marry in 1931. She soon began attending classes at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ohio, and exhibited for the first time, sculpture, at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1941. Then, World War II intervened, and Block found herself in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for the duration of the war. There, her only child, JG Wolf, was born.

Amanda R. Block (February 20, 1912 – November 8, 2011) was an American artist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Block studied art in Cincinnati, Ohio, and exhibited sculptures at her first national show at the Chicago Art Institute in 1941. Her graduation from John Herron School of Art in 1960, at age 48, marked a return to creative work. Her superb color sense has always been Amanda's trademark. Bright, sensual, engaging, full of movement, her work draws the viewer into its orbit, forcing questions upon us. Her female subjects, no matter how abstract their portrayal, always seem to be real people; and we, the viewer, feel forced to question: who are they, and why do they speak so clearly to us.